Tuesday, 23 December 2014

Early winter bird surveys 2014

December 8th - Land East of the Railway Line

LERL Bird survey transects

It was a damp and dreary start to the morning over in the Land East, but Tom Forward rewarded us with a champion's breakfast of seasonal pies... Nice one fella!

Feeling a bit perkier after this sugary energy injection, we began our first transect in the western edge of Horleyland where woodland abuts the railway line. The open understory areas of the woodland were rather quiet, but we picked up the first ticks of the day in the form of Blue Tit, Blackbird and Carrion Crow.

Horleyland Wood with its open understory

A small group of Redwing were knocking about, although not in the same numbers as Jackdaw. Nuthatch and Tree Creeper made themselves known through some plaintive calling; the Nuthatch won this shouting match.

In quieter moments we picked up the 'teck' of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and the 'tick' of a Robin. Continuing on through the wooded strip linking Horleyland to Lower Picketts, we passed by the newt ponds where a pair of Grey Wagtail, a Bullfinch and three Mallards were larking about.

Our first transect ends at the boundary of Lower Picketts Wood; today this was our birding hotspot with a mixed flock of tits, several Tree Creepers, Goldcrests and Nuthatch noisily making themselves known along with 3 or so Redwing.

Still and quiet in Goat Meadow

Over to our next transect in Goat Meadow, where a lonely Marsh Tit was calling. I repeatedly promise this bird to Tom F. as it seems to avoid us on surveys; today the little sneak was found out! On the way to the beginning of the transect, we pass one of our newer reptile and amphibian hibernaculas... I wonder if they are occupied yet?

A disconcertingly grave-like reptile hibernacula.

While passing though Upper Picketts Wood, a distinctive croaking call stops us dead in our tracks, and a dark shape wings its way towards us through the tree tops...

A Raven is definitely an unusual turn up on our Gatwick surveys! This larger member of the Crow family is more commonly found in upland areas over to the west of the UK. The rough, echoing cry of a Raven contrasts greatly with the impossibly high pitched calls of Goldcrests, which seemed to follow us around for most of the day.

We break out of the cover of woodland and out into the Gatwick Stream grasslands, now open to access after some major landscaping works. We've been itching to get back into this area and weren't disappointed by views of a Little Egret, a beautifully white miniature heron. Also first for this area on our surveys was a flock of Meadow Pipits.

Extreme birding: the floodplain meadow lives up to its name

LERL species list:

1.Blackbird

Turdus merula

2.Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus

3.Bullfinch

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

4.Carrion Crow

Corvus corone

5.Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

6.Coal Tit

Periparus ater

7.Dunnock

Prunella modularis

8.Goldcrest

Regulus regulus

9.Goldfinch

Carduelis carduelis

10.Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocopus major

11.Great Tit

Parus major

12.Green Woodpecker

Picus viridis

13.Greenfinch

Carduelis chloris

14.Grey Wagtail

Motacilla cinerea

15.Jackdaw

Corvus monedula

16.Jay

Garrulus glandarius

17. ** Little Egret

Egretta garzetta

18.Long-tailed Tit

Aegithalos caudatus

19.Magpie

Pica pica

20.Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos

21.Marsh Tit

Poecile palustris

22. ** Meadow Pipit

Anthus pratensis

23.Nuthatch

Sitta europaea

24.Pied Wagtail

Motacilla alba

25. ** Raven

Corvus corax

26.Redwing

Turdus iliacus

27.Robin

Erithacus rubecula

28.Song Thrush

Turdus philomelos

29.Stock Dove

Columba oenas

30.Treecreeper

Certhia familiaris

31.Wood Pigeon

Columba palumbus

32.Wren

Troglodytes troglodytes

** = newly recorded species

North West Zone - December 9th

NWZ bird survey transects

It was a much colder start to the day as we began our first transect just north of the airfield, where the River Mole emerges from under the runway.

One of the first species of the day is a Common Snipe, which exploded from the wet grassland with its characteristic fast erratic flight. Tom tells us the collective noun for a group of Snipe is called a 'Wisp'.
Over in the hedgerows adjoining Brockley Wood, a Common Kestrel was perched up and blending in with the remaining leaves on the Oak trees.

We passed the grass mound where we first recorded our Long-Horned Bees in the summer. Today it is all very still except for a lonely Pied Wagtail.

On Tom's wish list for today is Water Rail, a skulking little wetland-lover related to the Crakes and Coots. We spend a little time listening by the reeds but sadly no luck here. Instead some 'tseeping' and flutterings indicate the presence of a small group of Song Thrush foragingin the reed bed litter.
Looking back along the River Mole from where we had come, an endearing site of two diving Little Grebe, aka 'Dabchick', which tend to crop up each winter.

We round the corner of Brockley Wood, jogging slightly to warm our feet. Here we spied a skulking Sparrow Hawk intently hunting along the line of immature trees. Poking our heads into the northern part of Brockley Wood, a Common Buzzard suddenly cries out and a small flock of Redwing take off from the woodland floor.

A daring crossing over the River Mole stepping stones

Futher down stream, we disturb a Little Egret fishing in the slow-flowing waters of the Mole. Towards the end of the 2nd transect, ten Ring-necked Parakeets flew over and 2 Mistle Thrush with their funny toy-gun calls. It must have been some sort of record for Bullfinch as we totaled 6 today; I love their unobtrusive and sad sounding little whistles.

River Mole at Povey Cross

All in all, a very cold and quiet morning and despite us listing a good number of different species, birds were only out in small numbers and activity levels were low. There was also a distinct lack of both Redwing and Fieldfare which I suspect will turn up in greater numbers in the late winter.

After Tom had departed, Sue and I traversed back to an area where we are cutting reeds for our insect hotel... what else then greets us but the incredible sharming cry of a Water Rail!

Our final list for NWZ...

1.Blackbird

Turdus merula

2.Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus

3.Bullfinch

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

4.Carrion Crow

Corvus corone

5.Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

6.Common Buzzard

Buteo buteo

7.Common Snipe

Gallinago gallinago

8.Dunnock

Prunella modularis

9.Goldcrest

Regulus regulus

10.Goldfinch

Carduelis carduelis

11.Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocopus major

12.Great Tit

Parus major

13.Greenfinch

Carduelis chloris

14.Grey Heron

Ardea cinerea

15.Jackdaw

Corvus monedula

16.Kestrel

Falco tinnunculus

17.Little Egret

Egretta garzetta

18.Little Grebe

Tachybaptus ruficollis

19.Long-tailed Tit

Aegithalos caudatus

20.Magpie

Pica pica

21.Meadow Pipit

Anthus pratensis

22.Mistle Thrush

Turdus viscivorus

23.Moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

24.Nuthatch

Sitta europaea

25.Pied Wagtail

Motacilla alba

26.Redwing

Turdus iliacus

27.Reed Bunting

Emberiza schoeniclus

28.Ring-necked Parakeet

Psittacula krameri

29.Robin

Erithacus rubecula

30.Song Thrush

Turdus philomelos

31.Sparrow Hawk

Accipiter nisus

32.Wood Pigeon

Columba palumbus

33.Wren

Troglodytes troglodytes

(Water Rail would have made it 34, but instead we have noted this as a roving record.)

Biodiversity Gatwick Photos

Click here for project photos and snapshots of Gatwick's ecology

Glossary:

Biodiversity:

The variety of organisms found in a given area.

“The variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the communities and ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.” Noss & Carpenter (1994)

Ecology:

The scientific study of the relationships that living organisms have with each other and with their natural environment. Ecology addresses the full scale of life, from tiny bacteria to processes that span the entire planet.

LERL:

Land East of the Railway Line (One of our conservation sites)

NWZ:

North West Zone (Another of our conservation sites)

Organism:

An individual animal, plant, fungus or single-celled life form

Habitat:

The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism. e.g. woodland, lake, deadwood

Ecosystem:

A community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. e.g. a lake ecosystem contains water, chemicals, substrate, organisms.

Community:

An assemblage of two or more populations of different species occupying the same geographical area. e.g. grassland communities include grasses, insects and birds

Succession:

The process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The community begins with a few pioneering plants and animals, developing through increasing complexity until it becomes a stable climax community. e.g. a volcanic island after an eruption, or a felled woodland

Competition:

The interaction between different organisms, where the presence of one lowers the fitness of the other